As of late 2011 the Columbia Plateau Trail State Park has developed 38 miles in two segments between Fish Lake near Cheney and Martin Road near Sprague, and between Ice Harbor Dam near the Tri-Cities...

The Columbia River Heritage Trail parallels the scenic waterway in the rural community of Boardman in northeastern Oregon. The trail's 3-mile off-road portion is described here, though trail-goers can...

From Columbia Point Marina Park at the south end to USS Triton Submarine Memorial Park in the north, the Richland Riverfront Trail offers seven miles of scenic paved trail immediately adjacent to the...

From Columbia Point Marina Park at the south end to USS Triton Submarine Memorial Park in the north, the Richland Riverfront Trail offers seven miles of scenic paved trail immediately adjacent to the...

As of late 2011 the Columbia Plateau Trail State Park has developed 38 miles in two segments between Fish Lake near Cheney and Martin Road near Sprague, and between Ice Harbor Dam near the Tri-Cities...

The Columbia River Heritage Trail parallels the scenic waterway in the rural community of Boardman in northeastern Oregon. The trail's 3-mile off-road portion is described here, though trail-goers can...

The Columbia River Heritage Trail parallels the scenic waterway in the rural community of Boardman in northeastern Oregon. The trail's 3-mile off-road portion is described here, though trail-goers can...

From Columbia Point Marina Park at the south end to USS Triton Submarine Memorial Park in the north, the Richland Riverfront Trail offers seven miles of scenic paved trail immediately adjacent to the...

As of late 2011 the Columbia Plateau Trail State Park has developed 38 miles in two segments between Fish Lake near Cheney and Martin Road near Sprague, and between Ice Harbor Dam near the Tri-Cities...

From Columbia Point Marina Park at the south end to USS Triton Submarine Memorial Park in the north, the Richland Riverfront Trail offers seven miles of scenic paved trail immediately adjacent to the...

As of late 2011 the Columbia Plateau Trail State Park has developed 38 miles in two segments between Fish Lake near Cheney and Martin Road near Sprague, and between Ice Harbor Dam near the Tri-Cities...

The Columbia River Heritage Trail parallels the scenic waterway in the rural community of Boardman in northeastern Oregon. The trail's 3-mile off-road portion is described here, though trail-goers can...

Recent Trail Reviews

Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail

Cedar Falls Trailhead to Thorp Trailhead - Two Days

I returned last night from my two-day bike packing trip over the John Wayne Pioneer Trail (The part we rode is also known as Iron Horse State Park) in Washington State. Our ride went from North Bend at the Cedar Falls Trailhead to the Thorp Trailhead. We stopped at Lake Easton State Park to camp. My 31 year old son rode with me and my wife dropped us off at the first trailhead and picked us up at our final trailhead. She also served as support, meeting us at the campground when our first day was done.
First day was a 40 mile ride approx. My GPS app did not function properly either day because of the four tunnels we passed through. The second day, after we cleared the tunnel MapMyRide told me I had just gone 1650 miles per hour!
The first 22 miles of the ride was a constant but not terrible climb. We stopped to walk a few times because my son, who is an experienced and well conditioned hiker, but not a cyclist, just got wore out from the constant uphill. I think I could have made the climb if I had been with a rider who could also make it and who would have encouraged me to keep on. I am certain I would not have made it without walking if I had been alone.
Once clearing the tunnel at the summit we camp quickly to Hyak rest stop. This is the only place on the trail where there is fresh water. non potable water is available almost constantly along the trail if you have a water filter with you. Upgraded pit toilets are situated frequently along the trail.
The trail between Hyak (the summit) and Lake Easton State Park feels mostly flat but was challenging - especially for my son) after making the climb. We arrived at Lake Easton State park 8 hrs and 30 minutes after beginning our day. The signs on the trail for the State park will lead you four miles off the trail onto the opposite end of the park from Bicycle camping sites (I think there are only two designated for bicycle camping) but it is mostly downhill. Sort of nice after the long day. The bicycle camping sites are not on the lake. We wished they had been. I chose to stay at Lake Easton State Park because I have experience camping at state parks. There are, however, back country camping sites all along the John Wayne Pioneer Trail. Almost every site has a pit toilet and non potable water in the form of a pond or stream nearby. My wife met us at the park with ice cold drinks and lots of water. We determined that we would have her return the next morning at carry our camping gear with her. It would have been a good idea to have had her deliver them to us at the campsite. That way we would not have had to pack them up the mountain! On the other hand, we would not have had them had we chosen to stay in one of the back country sites. At the very least she could have given them to us at Hyak and saved us packing them during the steps part of the trip. Live and learn.
Tent camping is hard on this old body. It was so hot I could not sleep well and began having leg cramps. I had to get up at 1:30 AM and do about an hour of stretching to get them to settle down!
Second day we rode out of the State Park, at 7:30 AM, to the small town of Easton, just one mile from the bicycle camping area. We got a coffee at the Hitching Post - a small convenience store, service station, restaurant, motel. The trail runs alongside Easton and we were on our way. Thirteen miles to Cle Elum, it was hot. My wife met us there and refilled our water. Just eighteen miles left to Thorp.
The ride from Cle Elum to Thorp is beautiful as it follows along the Yakima River. We watched a guided fly fishing group float alongside us from a few moments. It was cooler than I expected and with many more trees than I imagined.
Thorp TrailHead was a bit confusing to find for my wife tp pick us up. But it is only a mile or so from the Fruit stand/Antique Store at the Thorp exit.

Richland Riverfront Trail

Short and Sweet

This is a short but scenic, out-and-back trail. We started at the south end at Columbia Point Marina Park and cycled north to the end point at the USS Triton Memorial Park. The distance was around 16 miles. The trail condition varies from being narrow at the developed marina to wider around midway. In one or two sections, you’ll need to watch for large tree roots encroaching on the trail. There is a break in the trail for a couple of blocks where you must cycle through a low-traffic neighborhood. Signs direct the way.

The trail passes through a number of parks (water, restrooms, picnic tables, etc) and generally follows the river. In some sections towards the end, the trail splits with one path designated for walkers and another path for cyclists. Easy to miss the directions for this section painted on the trail.

You can also extend your mileage as the trail connects directly to the Sacajawea Heritage Trail which continues underneath the bridge.

Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail

Rattlesnake Lake/Cedar Falls to Cle Elum

We started in Cedar Falls and made it to Lake Easton State Park the first day, where we camped. Our bicycles were fully loaded, and by the time we got to the Snoqualmie Tunnel we were very tired of the uphill grind. The grade is never difficult, and you barely notice it, but after 20 miles your body is feeling it. There was a shortish patch between the tunnel and Lake Easton where the gravel was loose, which made the biking a bit difficult, but all in all it was pretty great. It was a 40-mile day, and there were lots of wilderness camping spots along the way. If we had known how long it would take us to do those 40 miles (about 8-9 hours), we might have chosen to camp at one of the wilderness spots.

At Lake Easton, we took one of the hiker-biker sites for $12.00. There are
two: #36 and #37. We were assigned #36, which is quite small. The other site (#37) is roomier.

The next day we biked 15 miles to Cle Elum, where we ended our ride. The first five miles out of the campground at Lake Easton were excruciating. It appeared that new gravel had been dumped on the trail for those five miles, and it was slow going and a bit scary for one of our friends who was clipped in. But once we got past that point, it was back to being a very pleasant ride.

My recommendation: Switch to flat pedals for this ride. You don't need to be clipped in!

Sacagawea Heritage Trail

Sacagawea Heritage Trail

Since we were camped at the nearby Hood Park, we drove to Sacajawea State Park to begin our ride there. The trailhead is not actually in the park but approximately 1/4 mile before entering the park on the right-hand side of the road. You can park in the State Park but it requires a Discover Pass or you can pull off the road and park across from the trailhead. We started from the park.

The section of the trail that runs through a Pasco industrial area is far from being scenic. You pass loading docks, distribution centers, vacant lots, and cross a number of railroad tracks. At some point you must cycle off-trail over the Charles Killbury Overpass to cross the railroad tracks and then follow the road for a short time before reconnecting to the trail. There are no directional signs in this short section but we figured it out after cycling through a neighborhood.

Once you go under the I-182 overpass in Kennewick, the area changes drastically. The views across the river are nice along with huge homes with perfectly manicured lawns line this side of the trail. Since we didn’t have a map, we cycled as far as Court Street and turned around and eventually cycled across the I-182 bridge to head back to Sacajawea park. The pedestrian/bikepath across this bridge is very, very narrow. Traffic is heavy and it is noisy. We cycled a short distance and eventually crossed the Cable Bridge. The path over this bridge was narrow, but not as narrow as the I-182 bridge. Once over the bridge, there were no signs as to where to pick up the trail again. We followed another cyclist for one block to the trail back to our truck

Our distance traveled was 20 miles. Note that brochures list the trail as being 23 miles but that mileage starts from Columbia Park in Kennewick and sticks to the Kennewick section. The section of the trail that we cycled was in excellent condition. Bring a map if you are not from the area.

Columbia River Heritage Trail

Great trail!

Love the location! Right on the river! Along the path is a wonderful hotel with great food that makes a perfect stopping point. Also the marina park for the kids to play at makes exercising with children easy!

Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail

Rugged but great adventure

We rode the whole trail from the Idaho border to Cedar Falls in 2016. It is not true that "145 miles" of the trail are closed. There are some detours due to missing trestles, a section of live rail, and short sections of private land. There are no plans to close the trail through the Yakima Training Center. The JWPT is a great way to explore Washington's geography and history through areas not seen from a car. We passed through without any disruption or trespass, and with barely any notice, although we did meet some very friendly people along the trail. We only left behind money we spent in small towns along the way, including those on the detours. For more accurate information go to www.johnwaynepioneertrail.org.

Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail

Not complete

There is over 145 miles of this trail that is closed. When trespassing it I is a 400.00 fine. Also you must contact the owners to cross miles of private land that is owned out right. I do know the owners and they are tried of all the trespassing. So they closed their land. Also waiting for the army to close more near the range on base.

Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail

Beautiful scenery but a jolting ride!

Did this trail as part of a Bicycle Adventures supported ride with 4 others in August of 2016. The scenery is beautiful but it is a jolting tough ride. Further along it does get better and it did help that we started at the top of the mountain and rode down hill. Uphill would require some serious thigh muscles. There is a tunnel along the trail and it is very cold (50 degrees F) and very dark. We had lights on the front and back of several of our bikes and it was still disorienting. This tunnel and the whole trail is best done in a group with lots of spare tubes!